AI is spreading rapidly in the service sector, while adoption in other sectors is only sluggish

According to 45% of the companies surveyed, AI has not had any impact on their market at all in the past 3 years, while another 23% said that artificial intelligence has only had a moderate impact. 19% of domestic companies reported a medium and 9% a strong impact, but only 3% of them saw the new technology completely transform their market.

How big an impact has the rise of artificial intelligence had on their market in the past 3 years? (percentage distribution)

Source: GKI survey

A marked difference can be observed between sectors: AI had a stronger impact in the service sector and trade, while it was much more moderate in industry and construction. In the service sector, nearly half of respondents perceive the effects of AI, of which 22% reported significant or complete market transformation. In trade, many also experience the effects of AI (41%) at least at a moderate level, here 13% are the proportion of those who experience a large or complete market transformation.

The situation is different in industry: nearly 60% of respondents have had no impact at all on the market of AI, only 6% indicated a strong or very strong impact. In the construction industry, more than 60% do not believe that artificial intelligence has transformed their market at all, while 13% reported a significant impact.

According to 8% of the responding companies, artificial intelligence can be used in almost all activities, and another 16% believe that it can be included in most tasks. 38% see medium and 25% only a small degree of usability in AI, while 13% do not consider it applicable in their operations at all. Therefore, the new technology can be used at least partially in most companies. All of this could mean huge market potential for AI development companies.

It is mostly in the service sector that company leaders see that AI can be included in most tasks (37%). In trade, this proportion is 20%, in industry 15%, and in construction 8%.

In your opinion, how much of the tasks performed in your company can artificial intelligence be included? (percentage distribution)

Source: GKI survey

Opinions are divided among company managers regarding the reliability of artificial intelligence. 9% say that AI-generated content is not trustworthy at all, 19% are slightly pessimistic. The majority of respondents (47%) are in the middle on the question, 22% are moderately optimistic. Interestingly, only 2% stated that they find content created with the help of artificial intelligence completely reliable.

According to our results, the industry differences can be explained primarily by sectoral characteristics: AI is not used to a small extent in industry and construction because the attitudes of company managers differ from those of their peers in other sectors, but rather the very nature of the activity hinders its spread.

A two-speed AI revolution is taking place in the Hungarian economy: while the service sector is already moving in the fast lane, industry and construction are currently watching events from the stop lane. According to a recent survey by GKI, nearly half of companies (45%) have not yet felt any market impact, and trust in technology is generally low, with only 2% of companies fully trusting AI. The sectoral gap is indicated by the fact that while 22% of service companies already report significant market transformation, nearly 60% of industrial and construction companies say AI has not transformed their market at all. The reason for the slower adaptation is not management rejection, but the nature of the activities, which also points to the greatest challenges and opportunities for future growth.